Budgeting 101: The Power of Broke

As Daymond John states in his book, The Power of Broke, which is what stemmed the idea for today’s special episode, starting a business from broke forces you to think more creatively. It forces you to use your resources more efficiently. It forces you to connect with your customers more authentically, and market your ideas more imaginatively.

And since most of us entrepreneurs have been here at one time or another, we felt this daunting topic of money, would be a great idea to side-step into. Just think of today’s blog post/episode as a little story about breaking up with debt so-to-speak. So, let’s dive on in then feel free to drop us a note in the comments with your thoughts on this topic of “The Power of Broke” …

I have a long background in the arts (both digital and with paint) and have also worked with my fair share of non-profits, so I feel like I know a thing or two about being broke. And it’s not fun! But sometimes struggling can give you a different perspective on things and can help heighten your creativity. Bringing that feeling of really being alive.

I truly feel that there are many ways for one to be creative — thinking outside the box, making things work with limited resources, using old things in brand new ways and so on. In fact, creativity is born out of necessity. If we don’t have it, we figure out how to make it. Not all the right ingredients in our pantry? We improvise and (hopefully) come up with something that tastes even better.

What I’m getting at here is there are endless amounts of possibilities and potential no matter the size of your business or your wallet. Just breathe … Give yourself some space … And let creativity take over!

That being said, here are TWO very simple ways a little lack in mullah can benefit your Muse:

#1. MENTAL BANDWIDTH:
As a professional (even if not working in a creative niche), your imagination is your most precious resource. When your wallet is feeling light but your motivation is running high, you need to be good at managing your mental and emotional state (mindset, heartset, bodyset) so that you can get into the creative zone when it’s time to get busy and get working. So, when you want into your office or studio, or hop on yet another Zoom call, you are 100% present, focused and ready to work. You are in the zone.

#2. INSPIRING EXPERIENCES:
You cannot create something original by recycling other people’s ideas. Without a rich life experience, it will be hard to come up with anything meaningful. (And we all know that in order to have business growth, our audience wants to feel connected and engaged.) So, if you have the friends, the time and energy, and the inclination then a little creativity and resources, even with a lack of funds, can be an amazing catalyst towards some life enhancing experiences. And from those, inspiration is born.

And this is now where we dive into … BUDGETING 101.

I know this is not often a topic most business owners want to talk about, and for those who are not number savvy, this next part is for you. (Trust me, I needed this myself not too long ago!)

For many of us, budgeting may not come naturally. It is not the easiest item on our agenda but could be argued to be one of the most important ones!

And here’s the thing, as a small business owner, you should be aware of your budget and spending habits at all times. Finding that balance is not always easy, but you will benefit significantly when you know your numbers.

We here at VU truly believe it’s all about the simplest definition … not letting your money or budget control you, but of telling your money where to go.

I also want to add that a budget is not just the numbers. It is a glimpse of the vision and future goals of your business. Budgets require planning and as a business owner you need to know what future revenue and expenses you have coming your way.

So, now you’re probably wondering, what exactly does the planning process look like if you are budgeting for the first time?

Well let me show you in 3 simple steps …

STEP 1: START-UP COSTS.

You begin with your start-up costs by asking yourself, what will it look like to actually start your business? A brick-and-mortar business will have different costs than an online business. And a service-based business vs. product-based will also have different budgeting needs. You can use a calculating tool like the Entrepreneur’s Start Cost Calculator to get an idea of what you can expect.

STEP 2: DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS.

This is where you consider your recurring operating expenses. This could be office supplies, online marketing, tools, a Graphic Designer and/or Virtual Assistant like myself, website hosting, and more. Looking at what you are already paying for each month will help you grasp what is in your budget and what should be put on the wish list. Sometimes we get caught up in all the shiny objects when in reality, we need to consider what will help our business grow to the next level.

STEP 3: ESTIMATING INCOME.

This is one area you want to be super careful about as it can be tricky. Do not, I repeat, do not overestimate your revenue. It is very easy and a common mistake to overestimate when in reality, you need to keep this very practical. Use facts and take into consideration seasonality. When you are estimating your income, focus on listing any recurring contracts first into a spreadsheet.

Next, list out your services and pricing. Add in your estimated number of clients for each service. As you fill out your spreadsheet, you should be able to mess with the numbers in order to get to your desired income amount for the year. Once you have your estimated profit for the year, minus your revenue from your costs to get your profit number. If you find that it is not what you are looking for, focus on ways to either increase your revenue or decrease your costs. I am here to help you save you money! And … by hiring a professional virtual assistant, this will not only help you with the organizational side of your business but your budget too as you’ll be back to doing what you love in no time!

Your budget is truly a glimpse of the vision and future goals of your business. While it can be intimidating, it is better to start now and stay on track for the rest of the year! It is your roadmap for your financial success and with that also comes something that’s all too common in the land of entrepreneurialism, and (also) something else we don’t talk about much … HOW TO OVERCOME PRICE OBJECTIONS! 

Many small business entrepreneurs complain about not being able to charge enough to make good profits. Yet, in the business world around us, we all see businesses who seem to be doing very well and who charge the proverbial “arm and a leg” for what they do. So, why is it that some niches seem more capable of avoiding price sensitivity than others? 

Well, we feel it’s time to own our time and expertise to pony up and handle price objections like nobody’s business! And we can easily overcome these objections by taking the time to fully understand the objection and what’s behind it, as well as dealing with “the issue” thoroughly enough and to the satisfaction of the prospect.

Out of all possible objections, a client saying they just don’t think they should be paying that much for your service (or product) can be one of the most painful.

And … one of the most common. And it’s only natural for business owners (myself included) to want more value for their money — even when you’re presenting them with the most valuable thing in the world. People will almost always ask for a price cut. They just want to feel like they’re getting a good deal.

Knowing that is in your best interest. It will help you be ready and understand the nature of price objections inside and out. So, how does one overcome those nasty, stressful price objections?

It’s all about getting yourself prepared — to the core — on how to handle them. Like nobody’s business!

First off, let’s start with a short list of common objections to get in the frame of mind. Imagine yourself as the customer (which I’m going to assume you are at some stages of your business) …

• It’s too expensive and we can get this cheaper somewhere else
• We are super swamped and have too much going on right now
• We don’t have any budget left – Call us back next quarter
• We don’t want to get “stuck” in a short/long-term contract
• We are already working with another
• Just send us some more information via email and we’ll get back to you
• Touch base with us in a few days … weeks … months …

And the list of excuses goes on. We’ve heard them all!

I hope you don’t get offended by my use of the word “excuses” but that’s what these are when people aren’t ready or holding themselves back because they can’t (or are afraid to) make a decision to go forward.

Trust me and stop doubting yourself … IT’S NOT YOU!

It’s time to zone in on your expertise and be real about what you do. To stay true to the voice inside you by not letting the ‘business’ change what it is you love because the people, the fans, respond to what is heartfelt.

If someone is interested and loves what you’re offering — whether it be a service or product — they wouldn’t have reservations about the price, value, relevance to their situation or purchasing ability. They would just buy it ASAP. Or in most cases, within the week after some budget crunching and planning.

Granted they’ll have questions and may try to wiggle you out of your current price or contract offering, but keep in mind it’s YOUR BUSINESS. No one can steer you away from or make you doubt your offerings but you.

You may not be a pro salesperson but you’re a good salesperson. So, naturally you spend a lot of time thinking about why your prospects would decide to purchase your offering as opposed to your competitors. You’ve fine-tuned every detail. Now what you really need to do is put yourself in their shoes and run through every possible obstacle of why they might say “no” or “not now” … And how you should reply.

If you’re new to the sales aspect of business, there’s a learning curve and hopefully these next few sections will help with that! 

#1. PRICING DISCUSSIONS.
This process boils down to a few simple steps … (1) listen, (2) explore, (3) summarize, and (4) circle back.

You want to hit that internal “mute” button and hear their concerns. Pause. Reflect. Then ask no more than 3 to 4 questions to gain more details and insight. Follow their response with a summary of their objection then circle back to the value of your offer. This is all about creating value. Yes, it’s really that simple!

And … #2. HANDLING THE OBJECTION.
Price objections allow you to acknowledge your customers’ concern without immediately slashing your price or doing or saying something that causes them to walk away. Once you’ve got a handle on the “blocker”, you can determine whether this is a customer you want to have or if you need to walk away.

Sales is about magical moments and objections are often just about reframing the offer to help the customer understand how you can create value for them and their business. Try thinking of a sales objection as an opportunity instead of a hurdle … An opportunity to do a better job of “selling”.

Objections are an inevitable part of business. This is also a good time to learn to trust your gut a bit more as some objections are legitimate reasons to stay away (been there done that – lesson learned). If the customers’ needs/wants/desires are critical or time sensitive and what you offer cannot solve it or your current workload can’t hack it, perhaps it’s time to move along.

To be successful at overcoming price objections, one must learn how to both discover and resolve these objections. Some days it takes thick skin but then again, those are the times to trust your gut and move on …!

And last but not least in today’s special mullah “untangling” blog post/episode…

A BANG FOR YOUR BUCK ON RESOURCES! 

Let’s face it! There’s an overwhelming amount of information available to us entrepreneurs. Just dangling at our fingertips in the virtual world and sometimes it can be really hard (like stupid hard) to separate the good from the not so good, especially when you’re new to the solo-preneur life.

Over the course of your entrepreneurial adventure, you are guaranteed to visit hundreds of thousands of websites in order to find the answers you need to find the platforms and resources you’re looking to work with. But, how do you know which ones will be the most useful, save you the most time and be the most bang for your buck?

Well, through this last section in today’s episode, I’m here to help with that as I’ve pulled together a short list to get you started …

Whether you’re running a small local business, a tech start-up, a virtual assistance gig or even a design/web business (just like me!), you will want to bookmark these sites!

• Toggl is the simplest time tracker to help you get things done. Did I forget to mention it’s free? Well, it is — great bonus and ideal for teams, entrepreneurs, and agencies. You can track your hours with a single click and learn where you spend your time. See the hours spent on various projects and tasks at a glance or dig deeper into details with visual reports. This helps get a more accurate picture of how profitable your projects and clients really are.
  
  
• Asana is a free tool that helps you manage team projects and tasks all the while getting a clear picture of what needs to be done and who is doing it by when. With its great features you can do away with chaos and guesswork and spend more time making ideas happen. You have ease of access to make sure you hit your deadlines by using the “Timeline” feature to create a plan that shows how the pieces fit together. And lastly, tie it all together by bringing emails, files, tickets and more into Asana with over 100 integrations to choose from. This online platform basically makes work less … well work!
  
  
• PandaDoc is a great and simple way to empower you and your team to create, send, track and eSign beautifully branded proposals, quotes, and invoices. You can use this platform to get your branded docs out the door faster and through collaborative workspaces, automated approval workflows, and metrics that let you know what deals are stuck. Seize the opportunity and let your business stand out by looking like a billion-dollar business without spending millions to create stunning, interactive sales documents.
  
  
• Wave Accounting helps you look professional and get paid all the while being free to use. (There is a small percentage fee for setting up credit cards but it’s the most reasonable I’ve seen out there yet!) In this platform, you can create and send invoices, estimates, and receipts within seconds. A huge bonus is that you can track the status of these files and know when to expect money in your bank account. It also allows you to accept credit cards and get paid faster. More convenient on both ends of the project.
  
  
• Slack is where it’s at! It unifies your entire team’s communications, making your workflow, well, flow a lot better. All the apps you need are seamlessly integrated so you can easily search and find all your files, calls, messages, and clients (or colleagues) in one place. It even has fun chat room channels organized by topic and private groups with direct messaging. All content is searchable; including files, conversations and people and integrates with many third-party services for ease of organization.
  
  
• CleanTalk is a remarkable cloud-based spam protection service. Unlike its competitors, it does things the RIGHT way by using smart recognition methods instead of plain captchas. And instead of making it harder for your visitors to interact with your site, it steps back into the shadows and does its work entirely unseen. Furthermore, it checks whether a comment really deals with the post that it’s supposed to sit under. You can even populate your private white or blacklists on an as needed basis. An honest to goodness true must have.
  
  
• WooBox is a great way to create engaging marketing campaigns. If you’re creating giveaways, coupons, or instant wins; you can easily collect entries through forms or social networks. If you’re more into polls, quizzes and games; you can “gamify” your marketing and gain insights by creating interactive experiences for your users. Or perhaps you’re looking to create some lead gen forms to distribute awesome downloadable content and optimize your landing pages. This platform has it all!
  
  
• Loom is all about video communication. And in today’s world, being virtual is not just all the rage but necessary. With this online platform you can capture, narrate and instantly share videos to communicate with your clients, customers and/or team members faster, clearer and friendlier. 100% free! With its one-click to record, one-click to finish and a publicity shareable URL automatically copied to your clipboard, Loom is truly changing the way we desktop communicate. They make video communication not only easy but fun!
  
  
• Easel.ly is a site that features thousands of free infographic templates and design objects which users can customize to create and share visual ideas online. Using this site is as easy as dragging and dropping elements; and users can either choose a template from their extensive library, or they can upload their own and start from scratch. Over 300,000+ users have already registered with Easel.ly, and thousands of infographics are produced every month. So, if you’re looking for an easy way to convey your visual image in a professional, flashy style … then look no further.
  
  
• Mindomo is a collaborative mind/concept mapping software for visualizing and organizing information. The free version has a 3-mind map limit and disables premium features like audio/video upload, PDF, PowerPoint and Excel download. However, paid users can create and collaborate in real-time on mind maps. This platform also provides ways to create presentations and mind map assignments. So, if you are looking to mind map your brand or your next big idea … this is the place to be!
  
  
• Zapier connects all your apps and automates your workflow which is an amazing tool for busy people. This application moves information between your web apps automatically, so you can focus on your most important work. All you need to do is pick a trigger that sets your ZAP into motion. The ZAP completes the actions while you solve more important business problems. It’s truly a simple, fill-in-the-blank set-up … point, click, automate helping you go from idea to workflow in just minutes! What more could you ask for …!
  
  
• DaFont is a database with over 10,000+ free fonts available at your fingertips. With over 50+ categories to browse through, it’s a truly impressive catalog. Some include fancy, foreign, techno, basic, script, dingbats and holiday, with even more in the sub-categories. In addition to offering fonts, they also have a message board where you can present images with certain fonts in them and have other users help identify it for you. Most designers know this, and you should too … a little font can go a long way.
  
  
• Spreaker is a platform where you can listen to the world’s trendiest podcasts or even create your own. You can distribute your podcast to social networks, iTunes, YouTube and more. You also have the capability to schedule episodes, embed widgets and even order your own Mobile App. With basic analytics built right in, you can measure your popularity through play numbers. For a wider variety of possibilities, investigate the GoPro.

Well, that’s about all for my list of my TOP fav’s for today. And just so you know, we are in no way shape or form affiliates of any of these platforms. We just truly love them enough to share the love of how they’ve helped us internally here at Team VU, or the businesses of our beloved clients!

On the hunt for more …?

Then go check out VU’s resources page; The Vault for a larger, more a detailed list — which is very soon to be largely updated, and always growing!